Abelian quotients and orbit sizes of linear groups (Q2193952)

Let \(G\) be a finite group, and let \(V\) be a completely reducible faithful finite \(G\)-module. If \(v \in V\), then the orbit of \(v\) under the action of \(G\) is the set \(v^{G}=\{v^{g} \mid g \in G \} \subseteq V\) and \(M=\max \{ |v^{G}| \mid v \in V\}\) is the largest orbit size in the action of \(G\) on \(V\). The orbit of an element \(v \in V\) such that \(|v^{G}|=|G|\) is called \textit{regular}, hence \(G\) has a regular orbit on \(V\) if and only if \(M=|G|\). It has been known for a long time that if \(G\) is abelian, then \(G\) has a regular orbit on \(V\). In the paper under review, the authors prove in Theorem 1.1 that \(|G/G'| \leq M\). This generalizes earlier work of the authors [Isr. J. Math. 211, 23--44 (2016; Zbl 1353.20007)], where the same bound was proved under the additional hypothesis that \(G\) is solvable. The reader should compare Theorem 1.1 to a result of \textit{M. Aschbacher} and \textit{R. M. Guralnick} [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 107, No. 1, 89--95 (1989; Zbl 0679.20001)] which states that if \(V\) is a faithful \(G\)-module of characteristic \(p\) for a finite group \(G\) satisfying \(O_{p}(G) = 1\), then \(|G/G'| < |V|\). Hence for completely reducible \(V\), Theorem 1.1 strengthens this bound. Another nice result (essential in the proof of Theorem 1.1) obtained in this article is Theorem 2.2: Let \(G\) be a finite group with \(F^{\ast}(G) = F(G)\). Then \(|G/G'|\leq |F(G)/F(G)'|\).